


Without These Wings

by loveheartlover



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-05-23
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1675256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveheartlover/pseuds/loveheartlover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt is a fairy living his dream life in New York City.</p>
<p>The only problem? He can't fly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without These Wings

“I’m going to die,” Kurt said sadly, staring down from the balcony at the busy city below.

“You’re not going to die, don’t be so overdramatic,” Rachel scoffed, hovering neatly on the other side of the balcony. She gestured around at the buildings nearby, full of people who either hadn’t noticed a girl was floating in thin air, or just didn’t care. “The city is meant to be full of fairies! We can’t just stick to the pavements, this is our time to find out who we really are! Just hop over the railing, and then we can go explore. Kurt? Kurt?”

She looked around hurriedly, confused as to where her best friend had vanished to, until she spotted a foot poking out from behind one of the curtains partitioning the room off. Rachel sighed, folding her arms and flying back onto the balcony, pulling a face as her feet touched the cool metal floor before walking over to the suspiciously Kurt-shaped thing wrapped in curtain.

“I know you’re there.”

“No you don’t,” Kurt said, voice muffled by the fabric.

“Come out.”

“Already did.”

“You’re hilarious,” Rachel said, “Really, I’m laughing so hard right now that you can’t even hear it.” She aimed a well placed kick at Kurt’s right knee, earning a loud yelp. “Come on, get out of the curtain and give me one good reason not to fly with me. Red shapeless blob just isn’t a good look on you.”  
For a moment it looked like Rachel was actually going to have to pull Kurt out of the curtain herself, but with a groan the fabric shifted until Kurt was stood before her, staring resolutely at the ground. “I don’t fly.”

“It’s our first night in the city together, and you want to sit here and mope and be a boring mortal?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being mortal!”

“There is when you’re denying a part of yourself what it needs. Fairies are _born_ to fly Kurt.”

“And there was silly old me thinking we were born to protect,” Kurt snapped. “I’ve gone a long time being perfectly happy with walking, and I intend to continue to do so. You go fly, you go explore.”

Rachel flapped her hands impatiently. “Fairies are born to do three things. We’re born to protect nature and newborns, to _fly_ , and to-”

“Ensure love bonds are in place, I _know_. Two out of three isn’t bad though, right?”

“Is there anything I can do get you to come fly with me tonight?” Rachel asked. It was clear that she already knew the answer.

“Nope,” Kurt said, popping the ‘p’. “I have Netflix and popcorn. Have fun!”

Rachel shook her head, but took off in the direction of the setting sun anyway, leaving Kurt alone in the loft. For just a moment he felt guilty, worried that something might happen to her, but that soon passed. Rachel was a vicious little thing when she needed to be. The big bad fairies of New York would soon learn to either play nicely with her, or to get very very good at flying away _fast_.

And so a pattern set in.

Rachel left early evening and came back in the early hours of the morning, often full of stories of the new friends she had made and the places they had visited, while Kurt stayed in and phoned his Dad or cooked. At first Rachel tried to get Kurt to leave with her, but by their second week she had given up.

Kurt almost wished she hadn’t.

It wasn’t like Kurt needed the social aspect of the meetings though. Despite Rachel’s initial concerns, NYADA had a fairy circle that met bi-weekly for lunch, and it was here that Kurt was introduced to Rachel’s ‘gang’- a group of six fairies who flocked after her like little lost ducklings. They were nice enough, but Kurt preferred to keep company with Elliott ‘Starchild’, a halfling who wasn’t welcome at the lunches due to his mortal blood. Eventually Mercedes came to stay nearby, which meant Rachel had someone else to drag out at night while Kurt spent the evenings with Elliott and any number of his delightful, if rather eccentric, friends. His friends who were all flightless, and had just assumed that Kurt was also incapable of flight rather than phobic. Elliott, bless his heart and shiny boots, had never corrected them.

“Kurt!” Meghan called, waving at him from across the diner. The waitress who had been serving the group raised an eyebrow at Kurt, before sweeping over and ushering him away from the family who had just come in the door.

“Swap tables with me.”

Kurt nodded gratefully before practically skipping over to Meghan. “You’re not meant to draw attention to the fact you know me,” he scolded, “My boss might think I give you discounts or something.”

“But you do give us discounts,” Elliott pointed out.

“Yeah but I’m not _supposed_ to,” Kurt said, “So keep those lips zipped.”

An unfamiliar chuckle had his head jerking across the table. Sat opposite Elliott was a dark-haired boy, someone Kurt couldn’t recall seeing around campus. It didn’t take the others long to work out what had caught Kurt’s attention.

“This is Blaine,” Meghan said. “He’s my little brother’s friend, they came up for the weekend from Dalton Academy since they’re applying here.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s your brother?”

“Flirting with one of the waitresses. Apparently New York girls are way prettier than the ones in Ohio.”

Kurt winced. “Does he not realise that at least fifty percent of the people here are like you and me, escapees from the clutches of states like Ohio?”

“Not yet, I’m sure he will soon though. And if not, I’ll just kick his ass at Mario Kart the next time I’m home for break and put him back in his place. New York girls are prettier,” Meghan scoffed. “Kid should know better than to insult his big sister.”

It was only as Kurt had moved away from the table and was putting in their order that Elliott slinked out from behind the booth and caught his arm. “So…?”

“So?” Kurt echoed.

“Blaine. Cute.”

“Cuteness is irrelevant if he’s straight.”

“Well I have it on good authority that little Blaine over there is as gay as you or me. And he’s got something else in common with you too.”

“An impeccable fashion sense?”

“His family name has him A-Listed for Rachel’s little group already, and he’s not even been accepted to NYADA yet.”  
“He’s a fairy?” Kurt asked, turning back to examine Blaine more closely. He seemed to sense someone looking at him, as his eyes flicked up from his phone in time to catch Kurt’s stare. Kurt looked away, cheeks going hot, and Elliott laughed.

“Cuteness not so irrelevant any more, huh?”

“Shut up and sit down Starchild, I have other orders to take. Your food’ll be over soon.”

Kurt didn’’t get the chance to speak Blaine.

The diner flooded with people and he was too busy cleaning up spilled milkshakes and trying to not to strangle the absolute brat at table 11 to do more than drop food off and smile sweetly.

Which was why he was more than a little confused when he received a text from an unknown number as he was heading home for the night.

_Hi! Elliott gave me your number, hope that’s not too weird?_

...It’d be less weird if I knew who this was

_Sorry, it’s Blaine? From earlier? Meghan’s brother’s friend?_

Fairy Blaine

_Indeed, Fairy Kurt_

Did you caps that on purpose?

_Maybe_

Nice to know Meghan’s dorkiness is present in both her sibling and his friends

_I resent that. My dorkiness is all of my own doing_

Well we’ll just have to see about that when you’re here next year

_You could see about it now_

?

_We could go somewhere. Now?_

Are you… propositioning me? Because I have a rule about sleeping with strange men. Especially the underage ones.

_Not underage, but that isn’t what I meant. Elliott told me some stuff and I wanted to talk to you._

You could be a murderer. You could want to clip my wings.

_Fairies haven’t had wings in centuries_

Kurt paused, fingers hovering over his phone before he sighed, shooting a quick “if he turns out to be a creep I am going to kill you” text to Elliott.

Where are you staying?

_Hotel at the end of Meghan’s street. Bright orange doors._

Room number?

_I’ll meet you in the lobby_

I can be there in fifteen

_See you then!_

“I’m going to get murdered by a preppy private school boy slash fairy, in the lobby of a hotel with bright orange doors,” Kurt announced to no one in particular, before pocketing his phone and walking back the way he had come.

The hotel was unmistakable.

If the orange doors weren’t enough of an eye catcher, there was a large statue of a rabbit stood just inside the doors.

A _neon yellow_ rabbit.

Blaine was stood in the middle of the lobby as Kurt approached, visible through the glass doors, but as soon as he spotted Kurt he bounded forward to meet him on the sidewalk. He seemed to catch Kurt’s disbelieving look at the rabbit, as he chuckled as he motioned for Kurt to follow him back inside.

“I know, hideous isn’t it? Apparently some guy donated a load of money to the hotel, but he also donated the rabbit statue, so they have to display it as a thank you.

“They couldn’t have had an _accident_ with it and spared us all the eyesore?”

Blaine just laughed.

His hotel room, thankfully, did not contain anything neon. There was a single bed, a half unpacked bag, and a laptop set up on the bed.

“You aren’t sharing with David?” Kurt asked.

“Hmm? Oh, no,” Blaine said, taking Kurt’s coat from him. “He’s staying at Meghan’s apartment, but it wasn’t really-”

“Big enough for more than two,” Kurt nodded. “Yeah, I should have guessed. She held a party there once and we had to relocate within the first ten minutes because we were literally unable to move a foot in any direction.”

“Can I get you something to eat or drink? I’ve got some soda, or-”

“Why am I here?” Kurt interrupted.

Blaine flushed but gestured for Kurt to take a seat on the bed opposite him. “Elliott told me that you’re a fairy. And I know he told you that I am too.”

“Fairies are everywhere in New York Blaine, that’s not really an explanation as to why you had to see me.”

“Kurt… Elliott told me that your friends don’t know you’re a fairy. Not full blood anyway, they think you’re like them. And he said that you let them believe it because you don’t fly.”

“It seems Elliott’s tongue has been getting away with him,” Kurt said.

“He’s worried about you. He only told me because, because he thought I might be able to help.”

Kurt snorted.

“I’m serious,” Blaine said, “I said I was of age, remember? But I’m a year behind in school.”

“I don’t follow.”

“You know as well as I do that the fairy population in Ohio is the lowest in the country. At the school I went to before Dalton, I was the only fairy. The administration and my parents agreed I shouldn’t tell anyone, but when I was fourteen I came out of the closet as gay by taking my best friend at the time to a dance. And that same day, unknown to me at the time, the other boys in my class found out I was a fairy. I still don’t know how they found out. So at the end of the dance when we were waiting for my Dad to pick us up, these guys cornered us. They let my date go after they got a few hits in, but a gay fairy was too tempting to pass up.” Blaine was practically spitting out the words, his shadow flickering against the wall in his anger. “I woke up in the hospital three days later, and had to spend eight months in and out of surgery having nerves repaired and bones reset. When I was well enough, I transferred to Dalton and I haven’t looked back since.”

“Blaine,” Kurt said softly, “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m fine now, really.” Blaine stretched out on the bed, lying flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling. “I’m telling you this because after I went to Dalton, I didn’t fly for two years. I associated flying with everything the boys at that school had hated about fairies, so I just… stopped. Eventually I realised that I couldn’t let them hold me back any longer. My Dad found a therapist who specialised in aiding fairies phobic of flying, and within six months she had me back in the air.”

Blaine fell silent and turned to look at Kurt, eyes sweeping over his body as he took in the tense line of Kurt’s shoulders, the set of his jaw. “Fairies fly before they walk, Kurt. Something must have happened to traumatise you enough to stop you from flying.”

The room was quiet aside from their breathing for a long time. Blaine was starting to sit up, clearly about to apologise for overstepping, when Kurt finally spoke up.

“When I was eight,” he said, “my Mom passed away. She used to take me out flying during the week because my Dad had to work, but at night she specialised in newborn safety. She’d fly out to babies less than a week old and cast protection circles, heal them if they got sick. And one night, she came and read me a story like always, and kissed my cheek, and told me she loved me and she’d be home by morning. Only she didn’t come back.”

Blaine was silent, eyes wide as he listened to a story that Kurt had never told anyone before. He didn’t know why he chose to tell Blaine now. Maybe because Blaine was a stranger, and if Kurt chose it he would never have to see him again. Maybe because Blaine had shared his own story and it seemed only fair to repay him for the trust he’d shown. Or maybe it was because not talking about his Mom had eaten away at Kurt for over ten years, and this could be the only chance he’d have to tell someone who might understand what he had gone through.

“The doctors said she had a stroke. And she might have survived, if she hadn’t suffered it as she was flying home. It was the fall that killed her, you see.”

“And you haven’t flown since.”

“No.”

“Kurt, what happened to your Mom was horrible, but the chances of it ever happening are tiny. I’d really hate for you to never fly again because you’re afraid.”

“I don’t want to be afraid.” Kurt’s words were little more than a breath that happened to carry across the room, but they caused Blaine to take a sharp intake of breath. Kurt winced at the noise.

“I want to help you,” Blaine said, twining his fingers with Kurt’s. “I think I can help.”

“You still live in Ohio, how do you expect to help me?”

“We’ll work something out,” Blaine said firmly. “Just tell me you’ll let me help.”

Kurt closed his eyes, but he nodded. “Okay.”

And so the flying lessons began.

For eight months, Kurt was set tasks by Blaine to complete. He researched statistics for fairy deaths during flight (<3%), wrote essays, and with Mercedes and Rachel’s assistance and Elliott’s support, by the end of his first year at NYADA, he was capable of hovering up to six feet off the ground.

It was during his summer spent back home in Ohio that the intense training began.

Blaine was a brilliant tutor. He was an odd combination of strict and gentle, full of praise for the slightest thing but relentless in pushing Kurt to his limits and then another inch beyond them.

“Okay give me your hand,” Blaine instructed from where he was hovering beside Kurt.

“Why?”

“It’s not enough to just get a decent height. You need to actually travel as you fly.”

Kurt immediately dropped to the ground, shaking his head furiously, but Blaine took a firm grip on his upper arm and tugged him back into the air.

“I’m going to be holding your hand the whole time,” Blaine promised, “And we’re only going to go from here to the end of your yard. We’re going to stay at three feet in the air, so even if you were to fall, you’ll have me to hold onto and the floor right below.”

“Can I keep my eyes closed?”

“Won’t that make it more frightening?”

“I trust you not to let me fly into anything. It’s just easier to forget I’m flying instead of walking if my eyes are closed.”

Blaine looked oddly touched at the comment, but he shrugged. “Sure, but just this once!”

Kurt held tightly to Blaine’s hand, eyes scrunched close, but slowly they managed to make their way across the yard. Kurt’s heart pounded inside his chest, his shadow skittering anxiously about below him, and just as he was about to jerk away and drop to the ground, Blaine turned Kurt’s body to face him.

“Open your eyes.”

Kurt shook his head frantically.

“You said you trust me. Prove it.”

One eye flickered opened, and then Kurt gasped as his other snapped open too. He was at the end of the yard, the fence that separated him from his neighbour directly behind Blaine. “I did it!”

“You did it,” Blaine nodded.

Kurt flung his arms around Blaine’s neck, laughing. “Thank you,” he giggled, “I can’t thank you enough Blaine oh my god, I never thought I’d fly again! You are the most amazing person I've ever known.”

“Well you still have a little way to go yet,” Blaine said, blushing furiously, “But I’ll take your compliments anyway.”

Later, as they sat up on Kurt’s roof sharing a blanket, Blaine rested his head on Kurt’s shoulder.

“Do you remember when I first texted you?”

“Mmm? Yes, how could I forget? Hotel with bright orange doors.”

“But before that, you thought I was propositioning you.”

Kurt chuckled, “I’d forgotten about that, I think the rabbit distracted me. Why?”

“Well you said you had a rule about sleeping with strangers,” Blaine said slowly, “And I’m not a stranger anymore.”

“Are you… asking me to sleep with you?”

“No! I just, I just thought we could go out on a date some time, if you’d like.”

Kurt hummed thoughtfully, pretending to mull Blaine’s offer over before grinning and pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of Blaine’s mouth. “I guess going on a date with you wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

“Hey!” Blaine protested, nudging Kurt’s shoulder. Kurt nudged back, until they rolled straight off the roof during their play fight and were caught purely by accident as their shadows dragged them back to a standing position.

“I never knew a shadow could look so pissed off,” Kurt whispered to Blaine, before both men dissolved into helpless giggles while their shadows looked on disapprovingly.

If, in fact, a shadow could look disapproving.

In September, after Rachel had left to meet her friends, Kurt stood on his balcony with bare feet and a smile in place. Blaine hovered on the other side of the railing, one hand held out.

“You coming? Elliott said the club is to die for, it’s the only fairy club that also admits halflings in the country,” Blaine said, his excitement catching.

Kurt hopped neatly over the railing, trusting his magic to keep him afloat as he kissed Blaine before tugging him further away from the building. Blaine wasn't a cure to Kurt's phobia, of course. Kurt still got a sickening feeling in his belly every time he was asked to fly somewhere. He couldn't travel long distances unless he had Blaine or another fairy he trusted flying with him. But now, with the freedom that came with regaining his flight, he could fight past the bile that rose in his throat and take to the skies and prove himself stronger than any fear.

“Believe me,” he grinned. “Nothing could keep me away.”

 

 


End file.
